1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to image editing, and more particularly, to modifying standard operating system of viewers to work with image editing software.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most modern operating systems contain a standard set of applications for performing a variety of tasks. In the area of image displays, most operating systems, such as LINUX, Windows® (or any of its variants, e.g., XP, the upcoming Vista, etc.) include a default viewer so that a user can display image files on the screen. In the case of Microsoft Windows® XP, that viewer is usually known as Windows Picture and Fax Viewer (WPFV).
One of the disadvantages of standard OS viewers is that they lack the ability to add plug-in that enable a user to edit and manipulate images, particularly plug-ins that have an extra toolbar. For example, there are a number of products available that manipulate visual images and image files, such as JPEGs, bitmaps, PNG files, etc. However, these products are either stand-alone, or require that the viewer have plug-in capability, in order to work with them.
However, for a vendor of image editing software, it is generally preferable to allow the user to use familiar interface, to the extent possible, for editing the images. Thus, from a user's standpoint, the desirability of a software package that works “within” the standard viewer is higher than having to buy a standalone package, which the user then needs to learn. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide image editing functionality to standard OS viewer software, even where the standard viewer does not support plug-in additions and added toolbars.